Friday, December 31, 2004

It's been many months since I've played my own mando, and a number of weeks since I played any mando at all. I was rusty, but things came back to me right away. I realized at some point recently that I haven't recorded Supersane yet, and I was delighted to find today that it was as easy to remember as anything. I may have a new song called "Receptors and Peptides". I'll have to see tomorrow if I still like it.

And speaking of tomorrow (actually today, 12/31/04), at my friend Leanne's New Year's party, I'm going to play a set of Nodal Nim. I'm very excited! I guess I'm going to shoot for a 20-30 minute set list, but I'll be flexible as I go. Dave says there may be some people there we don't know, which is exciting, because I do enjoy playing Nim songs for the uninitiated. The initiated are fun, too, of course, and I'm expecting big interaction during Vegetables You've Never Heard Of. Super grand!

Also, Dave is going to play, and we're going to play together! It will be wow!

I added two new mp3s to the audio page. I didn't put them on top of the list, because I don't think they're that strong. Anyway, I finished recording all my new songs, the ones I've written this semester. I returned Marina's mandolin to her. I will be anxiously awaiting the return of my mandolin; it's supposed to come to me by mail.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Joel and I made some recordings tonight, including the song we wrote called either Liquid Gravity or Penelope... or somehow some combination of the two. We also did a couple very Jandekian improvs. I will may post them all with Nodal Nim in the next few days. Maybe we'll start a new SoundClick page entirely.

I forgot to mention that last week, I performed my final project for Electronic Composition, called Everybody's Fantasy, with text by Allen Ginsberg. I may put it online as well. I'll just have to record the vocals.

I have one more new Nim song to record, and then I ought to return Marina's mandolin to her. I'll do that tomorrow morning.

Looking forward to jamming some more in Troy. My mandolin will probably be mailed to me there within a week or two. Or maybe never. Sigh.

I called Northern Music about my mando, and all the guy could tell me was that he's going to call their fixer tomorrow. I said I need it back before I go home for break. If it hasn't been fixed by then, I'm taking it home as is and bringing it to a place I can trust in my area. They've had it for way too long.

=

Chris and Dan came over to my apartment after coffeehouse. We had popcorn and played Killer Bunnies, and I also played I Am Systems for them.

Thursday, December 2, 2004

I've recently finished two new songs: Let Me In Your Hole and I Am Systems. If all goes according to plan, I'll be debuting Hole at Hurley's tonight. It may be the last Hurley's coffeehouse of the semester. Come by!

Sunday, November 28, 2004

I spent the night in the company of Brian Conklin, Dave Shaver, Leanne Merkadante, Teo Acosta, Zara Acosta, and Papa Acosta. (Sorry about the spelling, if I massacred any unfamiliar names.) We jammed a lot, and it was quite a lot of fun. Good people, playing music with love. Most exciting was that most of them have never really "jammed" very much. As we went, everyone got more and more comfortable, and some great stuff started to come out. It was good vibes all night. We also played cards, had pie, and generally just had fun. It was wonderful!

In the Nim department, first of all, we jammed out for quite a while on Vegetables You've Never Heard Of. Dave and Teo both did verses of Vegetables, and Zara did a cool clarinet solo. It was super-fun. Later, when we were sharing solo songs, I played some Nim stuff: You've Got Your Own Life, Deposit One Tangelo, Raisins. We jammed out on Will We Go Out Together.

The coolest was that I premiered a new song called Let Me In Your Hole, and everyone went ape-shit for it. It's kind of epic. I wasn't sure about it until I played it, and now it seems to be a winner. Yay!

Winter break will be upon us soon, and I'm quite sure I'll do some more jamming at the Acostas. What wonderful people to play music with! It was such a great time!

-A

Oh, and Dave and Teo and I are going to look for open mics in Albany to perform stuff at. It should be splendid!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Joel and I began writing a multi-movement something called "The Meaning of Life".

I also began writing a new Nodal Nim song tentatively called either "Strange Situation" or "Unusual Day". I don't know if I will continue/remember it, but I played and sang some stuff, and I put crayon to paper.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

My second composition for the class is a setting of a poem by Allen Ginsberg: Nakasaki Days IV - Everybody's Fantasy, for voice and tape. Until tonight, I had only set the first stanza, but after doing some work this evening in the eComp lab, I brought it to a state of pseudo-completion. I'll probably go through it again later and spice up the texture, perhaps with some deep bass stuff. For now, it is quite demonstratable, which is good, because I haven't played anything in that class in a couple weeks.

Once I finish this for real, it is likely that I will place it on my xenharmonic improv site. I'll let you know when that happens.

It's insane how late it is on a Wesnesday night, but sometimes I have no control over myself. I uploaded all the decent Nim audio from my October 21 Hurley's gig to the SoundClick page. I omitted one song I played -- Magazine Chubbies -- because for some reason the mic cut out, and it sounded terrible as a result. The set list was as follows:

Special thanks to Chris Roslund for engineering the gig and recording it. Also to Marina Potter for the use of her instrument (which I am continuing to use until my own mando returns from the shop) and the friends who came by that night to support me.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Joel and I finished our collaborative songie tonight. We also worked on The Slippery Toad and just jammed out. It was mega fun, and we are going to perform at Hurley's open mic tomorrow, 11/11/04. Yay!

Lyrics of yet unnamed song:

Friction makes us stick
or I would keep rolling by
rolling by
Friction makes us stick
or I'd just keep sliding by
sliding by

Rub my hands together
Slide my feet on the carpet
Slide two sticks together
It gets hot it gets hot

Penelope
The only one who need stars
In her oxygen

We forgot to tell you
What not to buy.
We didn't lie exactly.
We only forgot.

Friction makes us stick
or I would keep rolling by
rolling by
Friction makes us stick
or I'd just keep sliding by
sliding by

Jammed after with Dan, Chris & Scott. It was fun, but I was frustrated because my mandolin wasn't getting picked up by the mic and the only other thing I could play was a left-handed guitar. I was already in a not-so-good mood (see lyrics above), and I left there unhappy. Now I have some homework to do. I will do it, perhaps write in my journal, and go to bed. I don't sleep enough at night.

Monday, November 8, 2004

On Saturday, I relearned Princessdom, Nobody Knows, and Present Tense. Yesterday, I mostly relearned Alan the Duck, although I need to check the chords again in the prechorus.

Joel Franklin and I started writing a song together last night. We will probably attempt to finish it Wednesday. We each wrote little poems down separately, and then set each to music and connected them. We will be working on writing strong musical and lyrical transitions.

Dan Studnicky is interested in producing the Nim song Science. He told me he has lots of creative ideas for it, and he mentioned Brian Wilson as a stylistic influence here.

Scott Marshall has ordered a camera, and with it, he is interested in recording a Nim show. He and Joel may work together to get multiple camera angles for editing it. Audio will probably come straight from the sound board. However, for all this to happen, I'll need to get another gig, which I do not have yet.

Saturday, November 6, 2004

I forgot to mention some stuff about the gig. It was the LONGEST gig I have yet played. It was one hour. The second longest was my gig at Hurley's two Thursdays ago. I started the show with xenharmonics for 15 minutes, so Nodal Nim was about 45 minutes. Prior to that, the longest Nim set I had done was probably a few summers ago at my brother Dave's place when I opened for him at his CD release party. I played 20 minutes that night.

Anyway, I left out a bunch of songs tonight that I could play but didn't have time for, suggesting I could fill at least 1.5 hours. My next goal will be two hours, which I think I will come to soon. Jen says I can do more Fields gigs and get 2 hours instead of 1. I will concentrate on bulking up my active song list with the suggested relearns below. I will continue writing new songs when I feel like it and performing at open mics on selected Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Friday, November 5, 2004

I played Nim from 9 to 10 this evening at the Fields, and it was fun for all. Many friends came, and there were others. I don't know if they all liked it -- some of them probably didn't, that's how it goes -- but everyone seemed riveted. It was wondermagic.

• I relearned both The Slippery Toad and Dripping Pilgrim today while assembling the list.
• I wrote Superman Has Friends today after Jen suggested that I fret two unison strings on different frets and really liked it.
• The lyrics that begin Superman Has Friends are: "Superman has friends, but you never hear about them." That is not true. Superman has friends, and you DO hear about them. There was a show called "Superfriends," and he was one of them, along with a bunch of his friends.
• I created a Wild Card list of songs to play in case I need to fill time. It includes: Rockin' Out, Magazine Chubbies (which I did play), Collarbone Pharoah, This Ladybug (which was requested, and I did indeed play), Juiceman, Frank, and Eat Lots of Apples.
• I skipped one medley that I played two weeks and a day ago at Hurley's to make sure I could fit everything: Crash Tinkle Tinkle ->Lapse Into Memory.
• Deposit One Tangelo->Javelin Head was going to be played a litte later, but a request moved Deposit One Tangelo ahead, and I brought Javelin Head up to join it.

Mike and Joel requested lots of songs that I didn't know how to play anymore. They helped me make a list of old songs to relearn. The list is as follows:

I will begin relearning them, and also memorizing the new and newly relearned songs that I still use lyric sheets for. I am having super fun performing, and I plan to continue doing so. I also plan to continue updating the website, with pictures and lyrics, sometime this weekend or week.

Tomorrow is Friday, 11/5, and if you live near Potsdam and are available in the evening, it would be splendid if you would come and see my show! I'm playing Nim songs from 9 to 10, and after that, my friend and roommate Jen Abounader will take over. She's good, so you should stick around for that.

Expect two premieres, lots of improvisation, quirky medleys, and bizarre banter. Request a song and I'll play it, if I have any idea how it goes anymore!

It was neat that some people requested songs. I was going to play Science instead of Veggies, but I was happy to substitute. Supersane I wrote yesterday, and Daisy Ran Train I relearned yesterday. Also written yesterday and not yet premiered: Telephone Box and Rodeo Clock.

I'm going to spend the next hour or two working on a new Nim website. If somebody reads this, it will probably not be until after the new website is up. Tell me what you think of it!

Greetings. I am Andrew Heathwaite, and I enthusiastically make musics. I have websites for those musics. This blog will allow me to say things about it as well. It is separate from my "something or another," which I will continue using for non-music things.